GRAND RAPIDS, MI — If there’s any takeaway from this story, it may be to not get between craft beer lovers and their favorite bastards.

Dave Engbers, Founders Brewing Co. vice president, credited media exposure and a groundswell of support from beer lovers in Alabama with helping pressure state alcohol regulators there to reverse a ban on two of the brewery’s beers.

Dirty Bastard, a scotch-style ale, and Backwoods Bastard, a bourbon barrel-aged ale have been kept off shelves in the Yellowhammer State all year after someone at the Alabama Beverage Control Board objected to the naughty names.

“I think a lot of the media exposure probably put a little egg on their face,” said Engbers. “That probably didn’t paint them in a very good light. And the beer community came out and rallied behind us.”

Engbers said Dirty Bastard, one of the Grand Rapids brewery’s best selling brands, could hit Alabama shelves as early as next week. Backwoods Bastard is a seasonal brand distributed in November.

“We’ve been anticipating this was going to happen,” said Engbers.

Alabama was the first state to object to any of the company’s labels, Engbers said, which regulators initially said did not meet the state’s beverage advertising standards as spelled out by the control board’s administrative code.

Beer bloggers expressed some extreme displeasure at the decision and many noted that a French wine named Fat Bastard was already approved by the state. The Fat Bastard folks sent a congratulatory tweet Founders way at the news.

"Congratulations and welcome to the party," they wrote, with the hashtag #bouttime.

The brewery’s wholesale distributor, Birmingham Beverage Co., appealed the decision and notified Founders yesterday. Founders' other brands have been available in the state since early this spring.

Founders’ beers are currently available in 23 states, the most recent additions being Alabama, Vermont, Iowa and Connecticut. Further expansion will have to wait, said Engbers.

“I think were sitting tight for a while,” he said. “We’re just getting into the heart of summer and things are heating up. Our industry is not too seasonal, but with all the states launching fairly recently, there’s definitely an increase in volume for us.”

The brewery is nearly doubling their output this year, Engbers said, from 43,000 barrels in 2011 to about 70,000 to 80,000 barrels in 2012.

As for Alabama, Engbers said he’s counting on some pent-up demand.

“With the lack of Dirty Bastard over the last few months, and the significant attention, hopefully it has increased the exposure maybe we wouldn’t have had.”